Festive Foreign Film Fans

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)So it's Season 2. We are older and wiser. Or, with all the traditional food and drink from last season, maybe just older and wider. We have a much broader view now and we are keeping our chins up ... all of them. To kick off the season, we didn't want to rush into it with something simple or easy. No Disney here. We travel to Slovakia, the twi

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)This episode is our longest and most special. It is Part 2 of our anniversary show. We welcome our first guest, author and podcaster Alonso Duralde; we pick our favorite global holiday songs and movies; and, most importantly, we enjoy and celebrate our podcast, and our listeners, and everything new this first year has taught us. When we starte

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)One Year! Wow, it seems like just last June we were in the street markets of Ancient Baghdad on a flying carpet with Aladin. Or, trying to escape from the top of a burning tower in South Korea. These films offered us a cinematic glimpse into the diverse traditions, customs, and ways of life for people in different places around the globe, and

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)OK, Festive Fans, pour yourselves a Mai Thai and get ready for the last episode of our first season! We are heading east – Far East – to Thailand, a captivating land of beaches, palaces, ruins, and temples. It’s the perfect ending for a final holiday outing of Season 1 to shake our Christmas booties with the Buddhists and elephants. Firs

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)The boys are going Dutch this episode and exploring Christmas in the land of tulips, windmills, and hole-y dykes. Grab your wooden shoes, we are heading to the Netherlands for St. Nicholas Day! We also examine a surprisingly dated film from 2007, Alles is Liefde, and discuss whether the same film could be made today. It is another example of t

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)In today’s episode, we enjoy Skenbart or “IIlusive Tracks” a black and white Swedish film set in 1945. It is a comedy, thriller, drama and love story, all wrapped up in one, along with those common elements you expect in a Christmas film – murder, adultery, and violence. Plus, if you can believe it, it’s really, really funny. Join th

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)The boys head north again to another Scandinavian country to fully embrace the land of Vikings, pastries, and Mads Mikkelsen. It’s Denmark! Yes, our own Hannibal Lecter stars in a revenge drama that has all of the elements you didn’t know you wanted for the holidays – anger, grief and lots of violence. And It is still feels Christmassy!

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)We are still in our post-St. Patrick’s Day reverie so the Festive Fans decide to head off to enjoy the Emerald Isle. Mark is excited to celebrate the locale of his favorite film The Quiet Man and the home to three of his great-grandparents. He is our resident leprechaun so he gets to present the Irish movie Kisses. And no, it's not about tha

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)Don’t cry for us Argentina, you have delivered on a very meaty holiday. And we are not just talking about the ox tongue and tuna sauce at the Asado. Our first tour stop in South America really delivers its fireworks -- both on and off the screen. La Noche Magica is a film that may seem dark and unsettling, but it is what Mark has described a

Festive Fans Unite! (send us a message)This reminds us of when we reviewed a film from Turkey in November, now February is Black History month in the States and we just happen to be covering our first film on the African continent. Today we travel to Lagos, Nigeria for an entertaining Christmas rom com that features all of the classic Hallmark movie tropes - boys meeting and losing